Dragon spirit
by Sullyranger
Summary: Dragons. Once they were enemy's of Vikings. Then a viking made peace between them. Finally the dragons left our world forever. Years later the first dragons spirit ignited and now everyone has one. A modern anime inspired AU where everyone has a dragon spirit except one 17 year old boy, but that is about to change.
1. Chapter 1

**So the idea for this story came from a combination of things: Trying to write my other HTTYD fic There and back and again, watching a number on anime on my Netflix account in the evenings and being a part of the DBZ generation growing up. The scenes kept playing in my head and impeding my writing on my other story so I finally decided to write down the first chapter/episode/whatever. I hope you guys enjoy it, I normally don't ask for reviews but I've been unsure about this story, so if you guys like it could you do me a solid and let a guy know? Thanks**

Chapter 1

Dragon Spirit Ignite!

"Dragons. Centuries ago they were living breathing creatures that existed along side man kind, then after 300 years of fighting a young Viking boy made peace between man and beast. After that man trained and rode the dragons, marking a new era in the world. Sadly this era was short lived. The young Viking grew into a man and became chief of his village, later in his lifetime dragons left and haven't been seen sense."

This was the opening to the dragon training video that every student was forced to watch before they could actually learn anything. Everyone knew the tale of the un-viking like Viking who changed that course of mankind forever when he trained a dragon instead of killing it. Astrid occasionally wished she lived in those times, but since they didn't have TV or the internet so such wishes were just as often fleeting. The video droned onto a more relevant subject on dragon training.

"Then, a hundred years after the dragons disappeared, the first dragon spirit ignited. It was the descendant of the young Viking and the dragon spirit was the same dragon that had belonged to the young Viking's wife: a Deadly Nadder. After that others began to discover their own dragon spirits, which was christened as igniting since the aura which the spirit first manifests itself has the appearance of transparent flames in varying colors. The most common spirits are Deadly Nadders, Monstrous Nightmares, Gronckles, Thunderdrums, Changewings and Terrible Terrors. Sadly no one has ever held the spirit of the first dragon to ever be trained by the young Viking, a dragon whose name once struck fear in all who heard and was known as the unholy offspring of lightening and death itself: The Night Fury."

Astrid tuned out again, more information she already knew. She could also ignore the parts about how one's spirit ignites at the age of 14 and the person had to wait three years to learn how to use the spirit for self defense so they could focus on learning how to drive. Glancing around the room, she took in who she knew and was participating in training with. The first person she spotted was her friend Regan Thorston, commonly referred to as Ruffnut. She and her twin brother Tommy aka Tuffnut both had Zippleback spirits and had learned early on that when they combined the abilities they apparently spilt of a two headed dragon they could cause quite the explosion. Then she spotted Fredrick, Fishlegs, Ingerman, a heavy set boy who was about as dangerous as wet cardboard. He has a Gronckle spirit but abhors violence and avoids it whenever possible. Next she spies Samuel, Snotlout, Jorgenson, the living embodiment of the term muttonhead. He was a short, well built brunet with a Monstrous Nightmare spirit who never failed to misinterpret her 'get lost' as 'try harder' and constantly flirted with her. The rest of the students where either strangers or people she couldn't care less about, like Heather who was currently filing her nails, also ignoring the video

Astrid herself wielded a Deadly Nadder spirit; it had ignited when she was 14 like everyone else after a particularly trying day. She'd had three pop quizzes and was freaking out about them and track practice had been cancelled for some reason she could no longer remember, she was leaning on the wall near the bus ramp talking with Ruffnut when suddenly someone had shoved the pair of them. After swearing over her scraped knee and turning around to yell at and beat whoever shoved her to a bloody pulp she found a boy with dark brown hair lying unconscious with his left leg pinned under the wheel of a bus whose parking brake had rusted and broke which had began rolling towards the two girls who had been standing there mere moments before. Her anger left her and she shouted for Ruffnut to go get a teacher and have them call an ambulance while she tried to push the bus's tire off the boy, moments later she was engulfed in a light azure blue fire of energy and nearly ended up throwing the bus off him and ran him to the nurse's office. Some hours later she convinced her mother to take her to the hospital so she could find and thank the boy, but when she asked the woman at the front desk she was told his father had already come and transferred him to another hospital that could better tend to his injuries. After that day she never saw the young boy in school again.

The video was droning on about the importance of harnessing ones dragon spirit energy, or DSE, and committing it to the betterment of mankind and keeping peace, using it aggressively only in self defense. Astrid vaguely heard Snotlout and Tuffnut whispering about entering into underground DSE fights after they learn how to fight with their spirits and earn some extra cash. She groaned and let her head fall back, and since she was in the next to last seat of her row, it landed on the desk behind her and startled the person occupying it. Astrid peeked her eye open to see who it was that was sitting behind her, and instantly found herself confused, she had been expecting some random person she didn't know or was disinterested in, but instead she found the school outcast. Some kids where strange because of whatever dragon spirit they had, it could be that they hated kids with certain other dragon spirits or picked up some of their spirits unsavory characteristics, like how Fishlegs tended to gnaw on pebbles. Yes there were plenty of strange kids due to their spirits, and then… there was Hiccup.

Harvey Harrison Haddock the Third, or Hiccup as everyone in the small mountain town of Berk knew him, didn't have a dragon spirit. Astrid had learned this when she first laid eyes on him in a class they shared freshman year, not long after they'd turned 15, they were suppose to introduce themselves to the class and to help find common ground share what their dragon spirit was. He was a few seats in front of her and had been thoroughly embarrassed to reveal he didn't have a dragon spirit, and then showed the prosthetic that he stood on instead off his left foot which was missing. Dragon spirit energy protects people from serious injury and Harvey had assured everyone he did have a left foot at birth and that he was not trying to cover up having a Terrible Terror or a Fireworm spirit, word quickly spread and he was quickly avoided at all costs. Astrid felt bad for the boy, but she was determined to be better than Heather and that meant being more popular, which came naturally when you looked like Astrid. Hiccup ate alone and was constantly picked on by other students who what where deemed 'popular spirits' usually lead by Snotlout who Astrid later learned from Ruff who heard from Tuff was Hiccup's cousin.

Before she could ask him why the first person who didn't have a dragon spirit since they were first discovered was doing in dragon training, the video ended and the lights were flicked back on by the teacher, Gobber Blech. Gobber was a Scottish man with a long braided blonde mustache who moved to the states in his college days, he was large like Fishlegs but missing his left hand and right leg, which he had lost from being attacked by others with dragon spirits. He had a Hot Burple dragon spirit, a rare and powerful one but those who had them were either pacifistic or lazy like the dragon was said to be. "Alright you lot, time ta get yer backsides to the arena." The old man said while gesturing the students out the door, "Hiccup! Grab those target clays and bring 'em wit ya." The scrawny boy nodded and retrieved a large burlap sack out of a closet in the room before following.

Realization struck Astrid and he did, he was there as Gobber's assistant. It was probably the only way he could attend the training without having a spirit and possibly learn what he'd need in case his ever ignited, even though the latest igniting of a dragon spirit was a few days before ones 15th birthday. Astrid spared a glance at Hiccup once more while the class trudged outside toward the concrete arena where they would learn to fire DSE at targets before moving onto more advance techniques that allowed them to access the unique qualities of their dragon spirits. He was actually rather good looking, he'd been about her height when he'd introduced himself in that class freshman year, but had apparently hit a growth spurt that had been very kind to him in the two years since. He still wasn't muscular, but he was plenty lean and his jaw line was sharp, she dare say even dashing, his hair appeared to be brown until the light hit it just right and the auburn color shone through and his eyes were a brilliant forest green that Astrid wouldn't mind exploring if it he could form a coherent sentence around her. The day they met in class he stuttered and babbled until she huffed in annoyance and just retook her seat, a small part of her wondered if she tried to talk to him again would he be the same way or if puberty had given him enough confidence to at least talk to her like a normal person.

Once in the arena which was built into the ground to avoid any accidental misses flying out on school grounds and hurting someone, Gobber address them again. "Welcome ta dragon training!" He gestured to the ring enclosure topped with metal fencing for some reason, "Here you will learn how to harness the dragon spirit energy you all have to protect yourselves from all types of dangers. Today we're going to focus on the basic DSE blast, which is when you ignite your dragon spirit energy and form it into a ball or beam which can then be directed at your attacker, Hiccup?" The lanky boy pulled a large clay disk out of the sack and flung it in the air. Gobber turned and dark brown energy flared up around him before forming into a ball in his still there hand and he threw it at the disk which exploded into dust on impact. Students murmured in excited whispers and Astrid even saw the twins bash their heads together in some twin excitement for destruction, her gaze fell back on Hiccup who was wiping red dust off his plain green shirt save for the small yellow Polo logo on the left side and pulling out more disks to throw, she pitied him for having to miss out on something that was beyond his control.

Nearly two hours later and just about everyone had managed to hit a clay target, Astrid had landed a hit on her first try as did Heather who pretended to be surprised even though she also had a Nadder spirit and people with them were usually the most accurate. Snotlout had missed the most, finally hitting the disk on his fifth attempt and the twins managed to get their targets on their third tries. Only Fishlegs hadn't hit one, something about even that being too violent for him. Gobber was busy addressing the people who would need to improve before the next lesson in a week so they could also focus on their schoolwork when Astrid decided to look at the spiritless boy again, he was sweeping up the dust that was scattered all over the arena, even coated in it himself from flinging every single one in the air for them to blast, she felt the urge to at least acknowledge his contribution to the training. She started walking over towards him, ignoring the calls from Ruffnut to join her, Tuff, and Snot on the wall. He noticed her approaching, and as she opened her mouth to say something a large explosion came from the metal gate entrance on the arena.

Smoke poured in and skewed everyone's vision while causing them to cough, Astrid looked up to where Hiccup had been but he was gone, likely covered in the smoke somewhere, and then back to the entrance. There was a cackling laughter emanating from the cloud and suddenly a strong wind blew with a strange pressure that cleared the smoke, standing in the entryway was five men, one whose spirit energy was burning purple around him that had cleared the smoke. Astrid felt the color drain out of her face as she recognized Damien Berser, also known as Dagur the Deranged with four goons standing behind him. Dagur was two years older then the students and very open about his illegal spirit fighting hobby, he was ruthless to whoever he fought and rumored to attack people often for being to close in his opinion, Astrid would normally not be bothered if it weren't for the one thing he had that terrified everyone.

Dagur was the only living person in the world with Strike class dragon spirit, the Skrill. The Skrill is the rarest of all recorded dragon spirits, only seven had ever had them including Dagur, the spirit is also one of the strongest, the real dragon was rumored to be as powerful as the fabled Night Fury. Dagur stopped laughing and took in the students around the arena before he addressed them, "Hello students my name is Damien, but you can call me Dagur. I heard you were starting class today and thought I'd pay you all a visit. You see I know one of your peers, an old friend of mine who I hear you enjoy giving a rough time." Astrid's eyes widened further as she figured who he was talking about, "My little buddy Hiccup over there." The older teen pointed to the boy in question who was lying on the ground like the rest and was shaking his head and hands clearly not wanting either the attention or Dagur's interpretation of help. "So the boys and I here are going to give you an extra credit course, anyone who can still stand against them in five minutes gets to keep their left foot." The wicked grin he wore showed no indication of joking. "And just so it's fair, they will be only using the basic DSE blast that you've been learning today, not that it'll help you much."

Gobber stood and ignited his spirit before trying to charge Dagur, but the older teen flared up his own and the teacher was rammed against the far wall, his prosthetic leg destroyed in the process. This seemed to spark all the students into action, one by one igniting their spirits and jumping at Dagur, but his 'friends' jumped in front to meet them. Their spirits fired up and revealed the dragons they had, a Changewing, a Scauldron, a Hobblegrunt and a Gronckle. They used their blasts and the other students were on the ground either hurt to bad to get up or knocked out, Snotlout almost had the Changewing goon but quickly blasted into a wall and couldn't get up, the twins were pushed back by the Gronckle and Hobblegrunt teens and Heather was barely keeping the Scauldron boy at bay. Astrid found her resolve and ignited her energy throwing a blast at Dagur directly, hoping if she hit him and knocked him unconscious that the others would take him and leave. Dagur responded by igniting his DSE and her blast dissolved against it, his energy was just too powerful, but she had succeeded in catching his attention. He sent a beam at her which knocked her on her back and took the wind from her lungs and unable to move from the pain.

"Oh you got guts girlie, I like that." His DSE was still burning around him as he turned to face her while the Scauldron user finally defeated Heather behind them, "I'm gonna enjoy watching you struggle against my blast." The others could only watch in horror as Dagur fired another beam of DSE at Astrid, this time at full power. Gobber was older and far better trained than she was and he still was taken out in a single hit. Astrid had very little chance of surviving the hit and she found herself unable to move out of the way from lack of air and pain in her spine. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable while her friends shouted her name and for her to move, then she heard a soft squeak and tap of metal on concrete.

Opening her eyes revealed Hiccup standing in between her and the blast barreling towards them. "Hiccup! What are you doing? Get out of the way, there's no point in both of us dying!" Astrid yelled but Hiccup remained; his stance defiant even in the face of death. Just before the blast of energy hit him, Hiccup raised his left arm and swung it in a back hand motion, hitting the blast and causing it to careen off course before hitting the wall, everyone still conscious gaping at the boy who they'd dubbed useless for not having a dragon spirit. Either Hiccup didn't notice the people staring at him or for once he didn't care, Astrid could just make out the look of anger, no… determination on his face directed at Dagur who had began cackling again.

"You deflected a dragon spirit blast brother? HA! I knew you had it in you, you would have to!" Dagur proclaimed as he kept laughing and jumping around as if he hadn't just been gaping in surprise at Hiccup just like everyone else.

"How is that possible?" Snotlout asked Fishlegs, the tubby boy may not be a fighter but his knowledge on all things dragon spirit related was beyond reproach, and he was also helpful when tutoring for math and science.

"I don't know, the only way I've heard of someone being able to do that was with DSE and Hiccup admitted to not having a dragon spirit. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for this one Snot." The twins were helping up Gobber who had also seen what Hiccup had done, he was currently mouthing something, and the boys could only make out the words 'what' and 'the' while the last word they couldn't decipher.

Hiccup turned around and crouched in front of Astrid, he reached out at first, but retracted his hand as if he remembered he wasn't supposed or allowed to touch her. "Are you alright?" He asked her, being dumbfounded by both his redirecting of a powerful DSE blast and his forming a whole sentence without faltering in his voice Astrid merely nodded. He gave her a small smile before Dagur's laughing reached them again, Hiccup's face darkened and he turned back to face the older teen again, whose goons had rejoined him again. Without a word night blue flame energy swirled at Hiccup's feet before shooting upwards around him, dragon spirit energy. Usually when someone's dragon spirit ignites they are surrounded by what looks like a camp fire of their dragon spirit energy's color, Hiccup's _columned _around him and shot in the sky. All eyes widened as the pressure from the energy was as palpable as Dagur's had been if not more so, whatever dragon spirit Hiccup had must be exceedingly powerful, or somehow built up over the three years it should have been active, probably the latter.

The goon that held the Changewing spirit ignited and rushed forward with a kick, it landed on Hiccup's neck but the most effect it had was the younger teen bending his neck slightly to the side. The energy still swirling around him increased and the boy was flung into a wall face first, nose broken and leaving a nasty red trail behind him. The other three boys with Dagur fired up and charged as well, Hiccup leaned forwards into a running position and in the blink of an eye was standing behind them in the same position mere feet from Dagur himself. No one moved for a second, and the all three of the spirit fires of the boys under Dagur went out before they dropped to the ground, leaving only the leader who was equal parts shocked and excited. "Impressive Hiccup, I always knew you be powerful if you had a dragon spirit, glad to see you don't disappoint." He held his hands up in mock surrender but back towards the entrance regardless as his eyes narrowed at Hiccup. "Guess I'll be seeing you again then brother."

Hiccup didn't respond, but his DSE exerted even more power if it was possible. Dagur gave one last smirk that made everyone except Hiccup feel uneasy and turned around without another word and left. The column of energy swirling around Hiccup disappeared but the determine look in his eyes remained, "I believe you were about to dismiss the class, weren't you Gobber?" He asked looking at the man over his shoulder, the teacher nodded while the twins resumed trying to get him up. Hiccup returned the nod and left the arena ignoring the stares of everyone in the class, all forgetting to even try and stand up again.

"Ok, what the hell just happened? I thought Hiccup didn't have a dragon spirit?" Snotlout shouted loudly, bringing everyone out of their stare and causing them to flinch, "And now he suddenly has one and can beat four guys who have two years of training like they were the noobs at using DSE? I say again, what the hell?" Astrid just stared at the top of the small incline where she'd last seen Hiccup, wondering to herself just what other secrets the lanky auburn haired boy missing a foot had.

There was silence again before Gobber told everyone to go home and get rested over the weekend and reminded them to practice for next week, then he told the twins to help him to his office. After the twins left Gobber in his chair, he rolled over to a cabinet where he kept a spare prosthetic, ironically a gift from Hiccup the previous Snoggletog, he fit the artificial limb on and reached into his desk drawer, withdrawing his cell phone. Punching number two on his speed dial he held the phone to his ear until the person on the other end of the line picked up, "Stoick? It's Gobber. Yeh and Valka might want te take Hiccup out for a really nice dinner tonight, the lad's earned it today…"

*Elsewhere

Several figures stood before a large screen, a video of Berk High's dragon training. They witnessed as Dagur interrupted at the end and the few students who managed to last the longest, but they all paid very close attention to the tall, thin boy who not only possessed incredible dragon spirit energy, but also managed to take down four boys his senior, three of which by performing a dragon ability that he shouldn't learn until his second year of training.

"The boy shows promise. He could either be a very useful ally, or an extremely annoying thorn." One said

"Agreed, we should strive to make sure he sides with us when the time comes, but for now should keep an eye on him. They'll want him in dragon training to hone his apparent natural talent." Said another.

"But what dragon spirit could he have that's strong enough to match a Skrill? We might be better off getting rid of him now while he's still inexperienced, for all we know he could become too powerful to control." A third interjected.

"ENOUGH!" Came one on the opposite side of the table they sat around, "The boy will be observed for know, if it seems like your concerns are warranted then we will dispose of him."

"As you say." All the members at the table spoke together. They all shuffled out on the meeting room while the leader remained, looking at freeze frame of the boy surrounded by his dragon spirit energy.

"Have I finally found you?" He asked himself aloud, "Have the gods finally seen fit to bestow upon me the chance to avenge my ancestor? I will know the answer soon boy." The TV shattered as a well kept bull hook smashed into the image of the boy's face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hiccup joins Dragon Training!

Hiccup was annoyed, no he was downright irritated. First he comes home after the incident the previous Friday to find his parents waiting for him cheerfully as if they were children waiting for their parents to wake up on Snoggletog morning, they told him to get changed and they where going to The Bewilderbeast's Cavern, the most expensive restaurant in Berk as well as the state. Hiccup had just wanted to get a shower then sneak off into the woods behind his house to spend time with Toothless, but his father wouldn't take no for an answer, and when your father is the governor and has a Thunderdrum dragon spirit you avoid arguments at all costs, Hiccup had only seen his mother win against Stoick with a glare that could scare the britches off men several times her size. Hiccup slunk up to his room slipping a raw steak out of the fridge with a water bottle to throw out his window for his friend on the way before taking a shower and dressing up.

As it turned out his god father had taken the time to call his parents and inform them not only had Hiccup's dragon spirit finally ignited but how he also managed to fend off four older teens and stare down Dagur into leaving. If that wasn't bad enough Stoick announced that starting the next Friday that Hiccup would now be taking part in dragon training instead of serving as Gobber's TA, which meant he now had to use his dragon spirit even more, and couldn't spend the entire time sneaking glances at Astrid, who was likely going to break his arm for being stupid and jumping in front of Dagur's DSE blast and made her look like a girl in need of rescuing. He was not looking forward to Friday at all; thankfully he only shared two AP classes with the object of his affections and made sure to sit of the opposite side of the class as to not incur her wrath for as long as possible.

It was currently Thursday and the week hadn't improved for the auburn haired teen, word had spread like wildfire about what happened at dragon training and other students suddenly wanted to talk to him like they were old pals. He'd even got video email from his actual old pal Theodore, also known as Thuggory; he was so excited he accidently ignited his own spirit scared the hell out of his college roommate as a spirit Typhoomerang dragon appeared. That was the only time Hiccup had laughed since the incident without Toothless around. Then the call from his only female friend, Cami aka Camikaze (due to her Changewing spirit and her diving headlong into fights without a second thought.) came in and he had to hold the phone away from his head too avoid going deaf in one ear from the screaming mix of anger and jubilation, she then turned it into a party call and added Thug before threatening them into meeting up during Thuggory's next vacation for old times sake.

But all that paled in comparison to his father, the man practically danced around the house whenever they were in the same room. Hiccup received no less than a dozen cards of congratulations from people who worked for and with his father about his dragon spirit and well wishes in training; in all honesty he was just about ready to go live in the woods with Toothless for a few days, or months. Hiccup was just working out in his head how exactly he was going to provide the steaks his furry friend had become so accustom to since his part-time job tuning up car engines for Gobber's auto shop was still minimum wage, he loved being able to work with his hands and Gobber was his dad's best friend, but he sometimes felt he got the job mostly as a favor to keep him from building his own engine after the lawnmower fiasco. Shutting his locker and turning to head home after his last class of the day found Hiccup in front of him a rare scene: Snotlout bullying someone else. Torn between wanting to enjoy not being the one getting punched or kicked in the gut for once and not wanting anyone else to have to go through that either, Hiccup took a deep breathe.

_Oh, the gods hate me_

Astrid had been having a troubled mind all week, she'd come in Monday after stewing all weekend about what had happened the previous Friday at dragon training. Part of her knew she should thank Hiccup for what he did, she wasn't sure if he was acting out of instinct or trying to be macho like his numbskull cousin, but he did save her from Dagur's blast and that warrants a thank you. Another part wanted to punch him for being so stupid and thinking she couldn't look out for herself, granted she was in too much pain to move and the blast surely would have killed her, but that wasn't the point. Then there was a third part that said both the other parts were right, Astrid liked to think of that part as her inner warrior, giving credit where its due but being pissed for him taking the glory.

She'd tried to find Hiccup on Monday, but in the few classes she shared with him he showed up at the last second just before the bell rang and took the only seat which was the farthest from hers. When the classes let out he would dash out, with his book bag still half packed and be down the hall before she made it out the classroom door. And here she was on Thursday convinced she was going to punch him, thank him, and then punch him again for the entire week, she had just stopped by her locker to put away her books and was going to grab a light snack and water bottle before track practice when she heard the laughter.

It was easy to discern that it was Snotlout and a couple other boys with Nightmare spirits, most likely beating up some poor kid for having a dragon spirit they deemed inferior. Astrid usually avoided those kinds of scuffles; she wasn't one to pick on others just because she thought her dragon spirit was cooler, but then again the Nadder is one of the coolest dragon spirits around and she was sure when the dragons existed it was no different. Unfortunately today the sounds where coming down the only hall that led to the locker rooms and the scene was likely unavoidable, taking a deep breathe and steeling herself with a look of disinterest the blonde stepped into the hallway, narrowly avoiding a sophomore running out. She wanted to believe that the bullying was over, but she heard the laughter grow louder and guessed the younger boy was just late getting out of class.

She rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Half way down the hall was Snoutlout and two other boys she couldn't be bothered to learn the names of, holding Hiccup up by his arms as his beefier cousin socked him in the stomach with more force than simple bullying normally requires. "What the Hel are you doing Snotlout?!" The words left her mouth before she could stop them as the boy kneed his lanky cousin once again who let out a barely audible 'oof' for his troubles. Astrid had to give him some credit for one other thing, after years of being beaten by Snotlout and however many others, Hiccup had a ridiculous tolerance for pain even before his dragon spirit ignited a week earlier. She could only imagine how much more he could take if he were to ignite it for defense, especially if his dragon was one that was built for such things, like a Gronckle or a Rumblehorn.

Snotlout puffed his chest out in a pathetic attempt to impress her, he failed. "Nothing babe, I'm just reminding Hiccup here that just because he has a dragon spirit now doesn't make him anything special." He said as he sauntered to her and tried to sling his arm over her shoulder, he was met with the pain of a twisted arm. With a yelp of pain she released him and smirked as he held his reddening arm and looked at her as if she hasn't done it a thousand or so times before. Snotlout left still cradling his arm and the other two boys take off after him, unceremoniously dropping Hiccup, who just slumps to the floor leaning on the wall to keep from falling over completely.

Astrid takes another deep breathe, she had been trying to corner him all week and now here he was. "So why were they beating you up this time?" She asks walking over to him and ignoring the look of absolute shock that she is actually talking to him that he's wearing, outside of the arena and when she first met him freshman year she never spoke to him. "Well? You can either tell me now or on the way to the nurse's office, but either way you're going to tell me." Astrid wasn't sure why she was suddenly so interested in why the school outcast was being beat up, again, but she was and it would help her ease into talking about last week.

"I... I-I kinda offered for them to…" Hiccup replied; too say Astrid was the one shocked this time would be an understatement.

Hauling the taller boy to his feet and pulling by his arm in the direction of the nurse's office, Astrid was going to knock some sense into the boy, track practice be damned. "And why exactly are you offering to let your cousin and the muttonhead gang pound you to a pulp? You have a dragon spirit now Hiccup, you don't have to put up with that kind of stuff anymore if you don't want to." Astrid pointed out, thinking she can slide this to dragon training if she words it right.

Hiccup tries to slow but she gives his arm a firm yank and he picks up his pace again. "It wasn't like that exactly; I didn't really plan on throwing myself to the school jerks and beg them to punch me until I was as blue as my spirit energy A-Astrid." He retorted only faltering on her name as if he suddenly remembered who he was talking too and began trying to slow again, Astrid huffed and just gave another yank of his arm, with slightly more force than the first.

"Then why prey tell weren't you at least trying to get them to back off with your DSE? Worked well enough on those buddies of Dagur last week and he was doing all that in some twisted idea of coming to your aide. That reminds me, if the nurse says your ok I owe you a few punches for that stupid idea to be a meat shield for me." Astrid said, mentally patting herself on the back for finally getting the transition to the subject she really wanted to talk about, but she felt the need to uncover why exactly he refused to defend himself just now.

Half way down the large lunch room in the center of the building which the school referred to the great hall, the sophomore that Astrid had passed earlier came up to the pair and walked straight up to Hiccup. "T-Thanks for getting those guys back there to leave me alone." Hiccup smiled at the younger boy and patted him on the shoulder before actually pushing Astrid forward while the kid left. As they rounded the corner of the hall were the nurse's office was Astrid finally seemed to recover from her shock.

"So you were helping out that kid?" She managed to stop him and turn around; Hiccup swallowed and was silent but nodded regardless. "Do you know him? Is that why you were so willing to let Snotlout and his thugs do that?" Hiccup shook his head this time and ground, suddenly interested in the dust that clung to his shoes.

"I couldn't even tell you that kid's year if it weren't for the class shirt he was wearing." He began, forcing himself to look up at her. "I saw them picking on the kid because he had a fireworm spirit. I'm pretty familiar with being picked on for spirit related reasons and even more familiar with Snotlout's bullying style, no one should have to deal with that so I offered to take the his place and promised that I wouldn't use my spirit or fight back." Astrid just looked at him in a mix of confusion and admiration, she had clearly misread Hiccup, here she had spent the week convincing herself he did what he did in dragon training in some hair brained scheme to impress her and in reality he just naturally came to the defense of others, thinking nothing of himself, and _that_ impressed her. Ever since she and Heather met on the first day of high school they took an instant dislike to each other and strived to be better than the other and as a result Astrid paid little attention to others. She thought back to the boy who had pushed her out of the way of that bus four years earlier at the cost of having his leg crushed under its tire, she should've worked to be like him and Hiccup, putting others safety first. It was going to take time but she vowed to better herself to be like them, and the first step was helping Hiccup. Maybe she could even be a friend to him, which could help her learn to help others while he could become more popular than just the boy whose spirit ignited late and fought off four guys.

"So you just jumped in help him without thinking about it? You didn't need to go meet with friends or anything?"

Hiccup snorted softly, "The only friends I have are either off in college, live in the Bog or my pet…" With that he left before she could say anything. She watched him walk away, any trace of pain gone, likely from the accelerated healing ones dragon spirit grants them. She was aware he wasn't exactly well liked within the school, but she thought he had to have some friends from before he thought he didn't have a dragon spirit. She reminded herself that he did technically; they were just in some college and living in the Bog which was a three hour drive away, all that left was his pet. Well Astrid resolved to change that, she heard that Hiccup was joinging training now that his spirit ignited and tomorrow was hand to hand combat practice, so she was going to partner with Hiccup and start building a friendship with him, after all now that he had a spirit he shouldn't be treated like a leper anymore.

The next day the students filed into the arena and waited as Gobber was using a small touch screen at the entrance which converted the arena into whatever design it needed for that days lesson, today it was raising wooden dividers creating a number of small alcoves. "Today is about hand to hand combat! Oh sure yer spirit should be your main line of defense, but sometimes ye can't use it, like if you burn out of DSE before the fight is ov'r. Now as you lot should know, a person's dragon spirit influences the way they fight. Like the Gronckle fer example, they can take a lickin' and then deliver a strong hit, but they tend ta be rather slow. Now, I want you to pair up and take a stall to spar in, nothing too rough since everyone learns at different rates." Astrid's first instinct was to pair with Hiccup, to her knowledge he still wasn't sure what dragon spirit he had, and he'd have to manifest it in dragon form before he could use the fighting style that one got from it.

However as she turned to look for him she found the large form of Fishlegs in front of her. "Hey Astrid, I was wondering if you'd be my partner today. Everyone else would spend the whole lesson as an excuse to just beat on me and I know you're not like that." He asked with big doe eyes, Astrid opened her mouth to explain she already had a partner in mind when she caught a glimpse of Hiccup, in a headlock from Snotlout being dragged to one of the stalls. With a sigh she looked to her chubby yet soft hearted friend and nodded, being sure to take the stall next to the cousins so she could help Hiccup when things inevitable got out of hand.

The lesson had been moving somewhat slowly, most students were more than eager to fight and that lead to Gobber shouting at them, and Hiccup was claiming he didn't remember how to ignite his spirit. It wasn't uncommon for people to have difficultly figuring it out after the first time which is beyond their control, but Astrid would've have thought he'd be practicing all week in order to at least ignite it at will. Gobber was giving Hiccup some pointers on how to ignite his spirit when the tablet at the entrance started beeping, he ambled over to it and tapped the screen a few times before dragging his meaty hand over his face and addressed the class again. "Alright class, I 'ave to take care of something in the front office. I'll be gone fer a bit, but I want ya all to keep with the lesson, and no funny business." He said and glared at the twins for the last bit.

Tuff leaned over to his sister, "Why does he always look at us when he says that?"

With that Gobber left up that ramp and the students either resumed sparring or flopped down to rest for a bit, Fishlegs was in the later group. Astrid leaned on the wooden wall beside him, deep in thought, so her plan to get to know Hiccup didn't really pan out like she had hoped, but she wasn't one to give up. She was going to The Dragon's Den with the twins and Fishlegs after training, maybe he'd like to join them? It worked for her anyway, since she and Ruff worked as waitresses there after school anyway, she wondered if Hiccup had a job, if not she could probably convince the manager to hire him on as a bus boy. Her thoughts were disturbed when she heard and loud thump and the wall she was leaning against lurched forward slightly.

She knew it was the wall she and Fishlegs shared with Hiccup and Snotlout, she walked around to see what was going on and found Hiccup being held against it by his cousin. "Come on Harvey, I know you can ignite it. You just don't want to because you know I'll beat your ass just like always, I mean not everyone can stand up to a Monstrous Nightmare's strength."

"If I admit it will you let me go? Samuel?" Hiccup retorted, Astrid had to admit he knew which button to press. Snotlout hated to be called by his real name, nicknames were everything once your dragon spirit ignited, and Hiccup got his for being seen as a mistake for not having his for so long. Astrid and Heather were the only ones who didn't have one, but then again her name meant Divine Beauty so she really didn't need one. Snotlout grit his teeth and brought his fist back to punch the taller teen, but then stopped and seemed to get another idea. He released his cousin and shoved him to the other side of the stall.

"Just ignite your stupid spirit already so I can thrash you properly Hiccup." He sneered as the orange spirit energy around him took the form of a Monstrous Nightmare. While manifested in dragon form the user can manipulate their energy to do things that the real dragon was able to do, including breathe fire. Hiccup regained his footing but still did not ignite his spirit; in fact he didn't even try as far as Astrid could tell. The commotion started to catch the attention of the other students how were now gathering to watch the scene, normally someone manifests their dragon spirit for only a few seconds unless they needed it for extended battle or they were injured and couldn't fight themselves. Apparently Snotlout was planning on using his dragon spirit to try and coax Hiccup into using his own, but the boy still made no move to ignite his, instead focusing on the shorter boy standing under the spirit glaring at him.

After a tense minute of staring at each other, Snotlout got tried of waiting. His spirit reared its head back and spewed flame at Hiccup, who managed to jump towards the back wall and away from the other students. Snotlout's spirit followed him, still spitting fire after him just far enough behind to keep from seriously hurting him, but close enough for him to feel the heat and keep moving. Just as Hiccup was attempting to get around it, the dragon spirit's tail flicked out and hit him smack dap in the middle of his chest, Astrid and several other students cringed as he was sent flying through the wooden barrier into the next stall. Fishlegs had still been resting against the wall, ignoring Snotlout had become well practiced by him and was sent rolling along when Hiccup burst through and they ended up on the other side of the small enclosure.

This seemed to snap Astrid out of her daze and she sprung into action, running to the larger boy and trying to help him up while he flailed about trying to meet the same goal, only to end up getting pinned beneath him and still pushing. She saw Hiccup stagger to his feet and the wall he came through burst into pieces as Snotlout's Spirit came after him, "Come on, Hiccup, scared of a wittle fire?" The bully asked in a mocking baby tone. The spirit reared its head back once more; Astrid saw Hiccup's head snap to where she and Fishlegs were still struggling to get him on his feet and then back to where the dragon spirit was building up its fire. Just like the week before Hiccup was jumped in between them and the fire as the Nightmare spirit let loosed the flames, this time his DSE igniting and burning dark blue as it did the first time. Unlike the first time however, Astrid knew that he wasn't doing it for any reason other than so no one will get hurt unless it's him, and with his spirit ignited he is as resistant to fire as any dragon.

Suddenly, Hiccup's spirit energy began to take shape. With the fire barreling towards them Astrid couldn't make out what shape it was, but she did manage to see wings before she was forced to look away to relieve the burning in her eyes. She wanted to look again, but the fire would just obscure her vision again, with luck if Hiccup accepted her invitation to The Dragon's Den after training he would tell her what dragon spirit he had, and she owe him a milkshake for doing this again. She could hear the flapping of powerful wings and the flames dispersed as the wind created redirected it from them, but when she looked at Hiccup again the dragon form was gone, Hiccup however had his energy burning around him. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the two behind him were ok; Astrid gave him a small nod, knowing what he was asking without words, returning his attention to his cousin Hiccup took one step forward.

"Well well, look how finally decided to- oof" Snotlout started to say but was cut off by Hiccup's fist finding his gut.

"Are you crazy or just plain stupid Snotlout? On second thought, don't answer that, I already know you're just that stupid." Hiccup said as he glared down at his chief tormentor who gave him a confused look, whether from Hiccup actually punching or not knowing what he was talking about Astrid didn't know. "You put Astrid and Fishlegs in danger with that stupid stunt, and all so I would ignite my spirit? Well congrats, it's ignited, and I'm gonna make sure you regret it." Without another word Hiccup brought his fist down on Snotlout again, with enough force that the stout teen slid back from the impact.

After the second hit Snotlout seemed to become aware that he was in a bit of trouble, and chose to put Hiccup on the defensive. He charged and swung his arm at his cousin, only for it to be blocked by a scrawny arm, he tried to kick his other side, but a metal leg met his own. Despite being the one attacking, Snotlout was moving backwards towards the concrete wall and Hiccup never wavered in his stride, the look of determination prevalent in his eyes once again. When Snotlout jumped back to put some distance between himself and Hiccup to catch his breath, the auburn hair teen acted.

He was on Snotlout in an instant, using the same speed he had used against the three boys who worked with Dagur and had landed several punches before anyone even realized. Snotlout tried feebly to block the hits, but Hiccup either struck too fast or too hard for him to do so effectively, if he hadn't literally asked for this and wasn't such a pain in the neck Astrid might feel sorry for him.

Hiccup delivered another kick with his good leg to Snot's midsection and he met the outer wall when Gobber hobbled back into the arena and witnessed the brawl that had broken out in his absence between his mild mannered god son and the class beef head. "What in the name of Thor is going on here?" Most of the students heard this and returned to their stalls, however the two boys didn't move. Astrid finally managed to get Fishlegs on his feet and off her moving to watch the scene unfold before her, she realized Snotlout was down but Hiccup didn't seem to have any intention of stopping. Then she noticed that his spirit was more outlining him than burning around him as a whole like it should, another common occurrence for those who are inexperienced using their dragon spirit energy: dragon mind. Hiccup had only used his dragon spirit twice now and as a result the mind of the dragon his spirit claimed was now running things and making Hiccup act more like a feral dog than a pissed off teenager.

"Snotlout wanted Hiccup to ignite his spirit and almost ended up barbequing Fishlegs and Astrid." Ruffnut answered while still watching as Hiccup walked towards the other teen still prone against the wall.

"Alright then, tha's enough now Hiccup." Gobber said, waving his arm to signal the boy to stop. He either didn't hear or didn't care as he continued to his movements, fists clenched and twitching ever so slightly. "Hiccup, I said tha's enough! Now knock it off!" Again there was no response was given, and Hiccup now stood over his cousin drawing his fist back.

The energy around Hiccup's fist flared as it reached its apex, Astrid knew that was a strike meant to finish an opponent, she'd seen her uncle Finn use it on criminals before. She had to do something, Hiccup might have wanted to give Snotlout a good pounding for his stupid stunt, but he surely didn't want him dead. Unfortunately even with the speed of a Deadly Nadder there was no way she could reach them before he brought his fist down on Snotlout. Hiccup's fist started moving back towards its target, when she did the only thing that could reach him in time.

"HICCUP!"

Snotlout opened his eyes and found his cousin's fist hovering right in front of his face by mere inches, Astrid had shouted Hiccup's name and he stopped before it buried itself in his face. There was absolute silence in the arena save for Hiccup's labored breathing as his spirit energy died down, he didn't move from the position of his almost punch, the only indication he was aware of what he had nearly done was the shaking in his still clenched fist.

Astrid approached the two carefully, when she reached them she brought her hand up and rested it on Hiccup's forearm gently, snapping him out of his frozen state. He looked at her with wide eyes that pleaded for her not to hate him for what he'd done; somehow she received the request despite barely knowing him and offered a small kind smile. "Come on Hiccup, let Snotlout up and let's get you out of here." She said kindly and pulled him back a few steps allowing the shorter teen to stand.

"Right then, why don't we jus' call it a day?" Gobber said while rubbing the back of his neck, "Oh! Also due to Damian's… impromptu lesson last week we will be havin' classes twice a week from now on so I'll see you lot Wednesday after class. We'll be moving to dragon class arts so there will some dragon class experts coming to help you learn." The students nodded as did Astrid who still held Hiccup's arm while leading him to the entrance. The Twins and Fishlegs caught up with the pair outside before Hiccup spoke.

"Thank you Astrid, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't snapped me out of it back there."

"It's ok Hiccup, you just need to practice at controlling your dragon spirit is all. Why don't you join us for shakes at The Dragon's Den and try to forget what happened? And if you want I'm sure we can help you with staying on top of your dragon spirits power." Astrid responded kindly. Hiccup looked around at the other teens, Fishlegs nodded happily and the twins gave him thumbs up before head butting each other for some odd reason. His gaze fell back on the blonde and nodded with a small lopsided smile.

"I'd like that."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dragon Class Arts!

Hiccup was actually glad he accepted Astrid's invitation to The Dragon's Den, he was having a good time with other people for once. He was sitting between her and Fishlegs while listening to the twins bicker about which of them had their spirit ignite first(Astrid had kindly explained they'd ignited at the same time upon seeing the confusion on Hiccup's face.) and taking a long draw from his milkshake. Fishlegs had spent half the walk to their vehicles in the school parking lot explaining ways to keep his DSE under control without having to be constantly thinking about it in situations where it's use was required and spent most of their time at the restaurant sharing fun facts about the dragon spirits they all had. "Actually, you had to manifest your spirit into a dragon back in the arena Hiccup. What was it?" The blonde boy asked, effectively silencing the twin's bickering and drawing everyone's attention to him.

Hiccup chuckled and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry Fishlegs, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. I was more worried about you and Astrid getting charbroiled so I didn't pay attention to what dragon I manifested at the time."

Astrid placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and offered a smile, "Don't worry Hiccup, there'll be plenty of other chances for you to figure it out. After all we're learning dragon class arts next week and you have to know your dragon spirit in order to use them. I personally can't wait to start throwing around Nadder spines when Snotlout tries hitting on me." The others laughed and began talking about what they look forward to doing with their dragon abilities once they've learned how to use them properly and only Astrid noticed Hiccup keeping quiet, she opened her mouth to say something when her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a reminder she set earlier to get ready for work. "Damn, Ruff we need to head into the back and get changed, out shifts start in twenty minutes."

The girls waved and left, the boys sat a little longer and talked a little more, Hiccup found Fishlegs and Tuffnut both enjoyed reading comics, Tuff being a casual reader whereas Fish was a bit more immersed in it, he wondered a lot why no one had used their dragon spirit to fight evil before. That spawned a discussion of the military using their spirits to fight in wars since guns have proven less than effective against dragon spirits and those wielding them, at best they injury the person but killing them was incredibly difficult, Tuff even read about a man with a Rumblehorn spirit being shot in the head at point blank range and having a mild itch where the bullet hit. "Well I hear that the Treacher Corporation has been developing a weapon to channel and increase the power of someone's DSE for the military, so maybe that will help someday." Fishlegs piped up, Hiccup cringed slightly at that. Most people tend to forget that in addition to being the governor his father also was the founder and CEO of Vast Enterprises and was Treacher Corps biggest competitor, of course most people forget that that Governor Gerald Haddock is Hiccup's father.

About a half hour later Hiccup checked the time on his phone and decided he had to leave, when Toothless didn't get a steak he became less than pleasant to be around. He bid the other boys farewell and made for the door, thinking that maybe he could eat lunch with them at school if things kept going the way they were, these thoughts were interrupted however when he was walking by the ally behind The Dragon's Den and someone yanking him by the back of his hoodie.

Astrid was always a hard worker and always had a smile on her face when interacting with customers, but today she was distracted. Despite never really spending time with Hiccup before, he seemed to meld with everyone in their group rather easily, he knew comics and video games like other guys to connect with Tuff and Fish enough to talk for who knows how long, and even told Ruffnut how he accidentally caused an explosion with enough clarity that Astrid wondered if it was in fact an accident. As for Astrid herself, he wasn't really into sports or martial arts so they seemed didn't have anything definitive to connect over, but she still felt as if he belonged in her circle of friends and after she and Ruff left the boys the taller girl revealed she thought the same. These things were mulling around in her brain when the manager of the restaurant, known as Mulch called out to her. "Astrid, would you mind taking the garbage out to the dumpster in the back? You look like you could use a little fresh air." She smiled and went to gather the trash, she always liked that Mulch cared about his employees like family, even his lifelong best friend after he was in an accident before she was born and rendered partially brain dead, Mulch gave him a job working the grill and didn't fuss over the bucket the man chose to wear on his head, earning him the name Bucket from the rest of the crew.

As she approached the back door that lead to the alley where the dumpster was, she heard a rather loud crashing sound, one usually coincided with something or someone being thrown into the dumpster instead on into it. Knowing Mulch has a strict policy of violence, Astrid cracked the door opening in order to see what was going on outside so she'd know if she could throw out the trash or wait until whatever was going on to pass. She did not expect to see Hiccup leaning against the metal dumpster rubbing the back of his head.

Before she could open the door someone stepped into her line of sight, a boy she recognized from the day before when Hiccup took the younger boy's place and let Snotlout beat him. "Come on Hiccup, you got lucky back at school when you were taken in dragon mind, I won't be taken by surprise this tie so light it up." Snotlout's voice came from somewhere behind the metal door, Astrid swore internally, of course he would do something this stupid after nearly getting killed. She saw Hiccup stand back up and dust off his hoodie before looking at where she guessed his cousin was standing.

"Snotlout, I really don't want to do this right now; can't you wait til tomorrow when you've actually recovered? That limp isn't doing you any favors." Hiccup tried to reason, Astrid snorted knowing it was fruitless but had to respect his willingness to try and talk his way out of the situation. Had she been in his position she'd have ignited and wailed on Snotlout and his backup by now, but Hiccup was cut from a different cloth and seemed to prefer the diplomatic route, he should consider a career in politics.

"No can do cuz, you embarrassed me in front of the entire class and even Astrid-"

"Whom you almost killed before I did anything." Hiccup cut him off sarcastically, had Astrid not basically been eavesdropping she would have laughed.

"And now I have to repay you in kind." Astrid heard three sudden ignitions of DSE, which meant Snot had brought at least two other boys with him. "Now ignite you're spirit or we're going to beat you until you do or have to go to the hospital, maybe make your right leg match you left. Then maybe I'll go tell everyone how you lost-"

The sudden DSE blast that sent the other two boys flying out of the alleyway left Hiccup's hands so quickly Astrid barely had time to process that Hiccup's spirit was now burning around him and was now aiming a third blast at Snotlout. "You may know why I lost my foot Samuel, but if you ever dream of telling anyone then I will see to it that video of you dressing up like Britney Spears and dancing to her songs in your room when we were 8 finds its way onto the school website. I think the school paper would love to get a quote about that wouldn't they?" Hiccup threatened, his voice dripping with seriousness. Astrid couldn't stop the snort of laughter this time but luckily both boys in the alley were too busy glaring at each other to notice. The sound of a dragon spirit extinguishing was heard followed by Hiccup lowering his left hand, but keeping his spirit burning until she guessed Snotlout left. To her great surprise he seemed to do so without a word. Hiccup readjusted his clothes and patted himself down to get rid of any excess dust or filth and left as well, once she felt he was gone she threw the trash and went to find Ruff, she would love to hear about Snot's hobby as a kid.

Hiccup walked back to the school where he had left his mood of transportation, the others had all piled into two cars, Astrid's and Tuffnut's, and insisted he ride with them. As he entered the school parking lot and made his way behind the auto shop class he couldn't shake the feeling someone had been watching him in the alley behind The Dragon's Den, and even though he had left and the feeling was gone now it still bothered him. He had used his spirit and Snotlout had almost blurted one of his most closely guarded secrets, thankfully Hiccup was smart enough to have hung onto that video file all this time, just in case.

Pulling the tarp revealed the motorcycle Hiccup had built over the course of a year while working in Gobber's shop, he'd found the frame for it when he accompanied the large man to a dump and had bought it cheap since he'd have to build the engine and everything else for it over time. He and Gobber had even designed a stirrup for his fake leg to hook into, the familiar click let him know he was secure; he put on his black helmet and jacket then revved the engine to life before pulling out into empty parking lot and towards his home. His mother would start to worry if it got dark before he got home and even though it was the truth, saying he was out with friends wouldn't be believed even if he had a dragon spirit now. There was also the matter of sneaking off to visit Toothless in the small cove located in the woods behind his family's house, his best friend would probably get two steaks for having to wait longer than usual to see him today.

Astrid looked around the arena while the students waited for Gobber to show up with the other dragon class experts who were to help teach them how to use their dragon class arts today, but Astrid noticed the distinct lack of one auburn haired lanky teen who has yet to tell her what dragon his spirit is. Things had been good since that first trip the The Dragon's Den together with the others; Hiccup had even started joining them at lunch, after Astrid dragged him over to their table on Monday. But Hiccup was nowhere to be seen and no that they were getting to know each other that was suddenly very odd to Astrid, barring the previous week when he was afraid she was going to beat him up. Astrid was roused from her thought when Gobber and the experts came in and their teacher began barking instructions.

"Alrite class, today we're learning dragon class arts. The school has arranged to have experts in each class of dragon come in to help you learn since each class differs, find the person hold the class of your dragon spirit and join them, they will then tae you to a place suited to train." Gobber held up a sign with the Boulder class symbol on it, and students began to file towards the different experts and form groups. Astrid spotted her 'expert' holding up the Tracker class symbol but made her way to Gobber, she learned he and Hiccup were close outside of the school and Hiccup's part time job at his auto shop and figured he'd know why her new friend wasn't here.

He turned around when she tapped his shoulder and offered her a smile showing off the stone he had in place of one of his teeth, Hiccup had said it was a Scottish thing and she didn't question it. "Hey Gobber, I was wondering if you knew where Hiccup was. It's not really like him to skip a class and dragon training is mandatory so…" she trailed off when he raised a bushy eyebrow and grinned in a way that seemed more like a proud family member than a teacher.

"I'm afraid he won't be here today lass. Hiccup admitted to using his dragon spirit outside of class and you know the rules: no using your dragon spirit unless absolutely necessary. He'll be sitting out today and have to make it up on Friday when he comes back. But I believe he's putting in extra time in the shop if ye wan' to stop by after training." He winked at her and she immediately felt heat rise to her face and nodded before leaving to join the Tracker class group. She caught up to them as they entered a small wooded area where targets were hanging from the trees and the instructor was just introducing himself.

"Hello everyone..." He started in a British accent, "I am Eret, Son of Eret. I know it sounds strange to you all but its quite common where I come from." The students had a laugh and Heather tossed her hair back in a flirty manner, "Anyway I'll be helping you all with your Tracker class dragon spirits. If I'm not mistaken you all have Deadly Nadder spirits which will make this a pretty quick lesson." Eret scanned the group as if he were looking for someone in particular, his eyes settled on Astrid for a split second longer than the rest but ultimately moved on without finding whatever or whoever he was looking for.

"Alright, using your dragon class art is rather simple actually, you simply need to call out your class, your dragon, and finally you'll know the dragon ability you'll use. Observe." He turned towards a wooden target hanging about twenty feet away. "Tracker class. Rumblehorn. Fireball shot!" He cried as a fireball formed in his hands and flew at the practice dummy which erupted in flames as it swung back from the force of the impact. All the students, Astrid included, started talking animatedly as their excitement to use their only dragon ability bubbled to the surface, but Eret turned to them and held his hands in order to recall their attention. "Now after you've used your dragon class art for the first time you will receive your class mark," He tugged his shirt up to reveal a green Tracker class symbol on his left pectoral muscle, "You'll feel a slight warming sensation somewhere on your body as it appears, we have no idea where it will appear until it does, but it's normally nowhere inappropriate. Now lets get started shall we?"

The students in Astrid's group formed up quickly and started using their class art which was the basic fire ability called Magnesium Burn, so far Heather had done the best managing to hit the furthest target on her first try, but Astrid hadn't gone yet and knew she was going to do better. Those who had already gone were currently showing off their new class marks, most being somewhere on their torso, but Heather's had appeared on the outer side of her left thigh just below her short shorts. Astrid finally came to the front of the line they'd formed and stood beside Eret, upon the closer space between them she could tell her was only about four or five years older then the rest of them, to be considered an expert at his age meant he had to be extremely talented with his spirit. "Alright, Astrid is it? You need me to go over anything again before you give this a try?" He asked looking her up and down in a way that Astrid recognized, he was checking her out, he instantly became an older Snotlout in her eyes and she scoffed.

"I can handle it, thanks." She said and turned to the group of targets, "Tracker class. Deadley Nadder…" she was about to call out 'Magnesium Burn' like all the other students before her, but she felt something inside her that urged her to say something else. "… Spine Shot!" instantly her arms were cover in thick spines that fired off when she swung them in the direction of the targets, impaling very single target with at least two spines. Everyone in the Tracker class group fell silent and looked from Astrid, to the targets and back again, Astrid merely shrugged and joined those who had gone while rubbing her left hand. The itch continued to annoy her until she looked at the offending appendage and found a light blue Tracker class mark there for all to see.

"Well then, I believe that's all of you…" Eret said finally seeming to have recovered from Astrid using the more difficult of the Nadder's class art. "You're all free to go, remember to practice your dragon class art but do so wisely and away from others who could get hurt." The students gathered themselves and left, Astrid herself gathered her things and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Eret was still checking her out and started walking towards her causing her to hurry off to her car and drive off in the direction of Gobber's auto shop.

Hiccup was grateful for two things this afternoon, the first was that Gobber's auto shop was located on the outskirts of town near the woods and the second was that he was the only one in the shop for the next few hours. Because of these Hiccup was about to let Toothless lounge in the back with him for a change, his furry best friend was happily dozing at his feet while he was changing the oil for his bike with his metal leg pinned under two large black paws. Hiccup had missed dragon training today because he came clean to Gobber about the incident with Snotlout after the previous lesson and as a result spent his afternoon in the company of his secret pet.

After he finished working on his motorcycle and convinced Toothless to let him up with a promise of an extra steak, Hiccup cleaned his hands enough so the oil wouldn't smudge his home work but left dark streaks on his arms, he liked the feeling of having accomplished something that accompanied his hands being dirty. Toothless stalked off around the back of the shop outside lay in the sun for a bit while Hiccup did his homework and wasn't able to be used as a comfortable pillow, just as he was wrapping up the last of his math work the bell at the front desk was rung. "I'll be right up!" He called poking his head out the back door to find Toothless sleeping lazily lying in the grass; he turned back and went up front. The familiar blonde hair tied in its every present braid was all he needed to recognize the girl leaning on her back against the counter, "Astrid? What bring you by, your car need a tune up or something?"

The girl in question turned around and flashed him a small smile that made Hiccup feel invincible, "No nothing like that, I just noticed you weren't in dragon training today and thought I come offer to help you catch up a bit if you'd like." Hiccup smiled back at her and motioned for her to follow him into the back, where they sat and she told him the basics of what he needed to know and then showed off her new class mark on her left hand which he found very interesting. The two had been chatting for nearly twenty minutes when suddenly Astird's eyes widened in panic and her body stiffened, "Hiccup…" she said in a small voice as if he would run or attack if she spoke any louder, "Don't freak out but there is a panther standing in the back doorway. If we time it right I might be able to scare it off with my dragon class art."

To her complete and utter shock Hiccup stood up and turned to the big cat and calmly approached it. "Actually he's a black leopard," he reached his hand out and scratched the creature behind the ear and it leaned into his hand and started purring loudly, "Astird this is Toothless, Toothless… Astrid." Hiccup gestured to each as he performed the introductions; the leopard spared the girl a glance before nuzzling his large head in Hiccup's hand once again. "He probably just heard us talking and got curious; he was napping out back when you came in." Astrid still hadn't moved from the chair Hiccup had kindly cleared for her and was staring at them with her jaw agape, here was this scrawny boy she was just getting to know and he was petting a predator like it was a common house cat, a house cat that had a red bandage around it's left hind leg, she noticed.

"What happened to his leg?" Hiccup followed her gaze to the bright red cloth wrapped around his friend's leg and smiled softly to himself as Toothless stalked towards and sniffed at Astrid who recoiled slightly in her chair as he got close.

"Relax Astrid, he isn't going to hurt you, he just wants to get to know you a bit. Try letting him sniff your hand, if he likes you then he'll push his nose against it, if not he'll just ignore you." Astrid closed her eyes and held her hand out and after a few second left a cold wet nose pressed into her palm, when she opened her eyes she was amazed to see that Hiccup was right and the big cat currently starting to rub his head in her hand like any normal cat would. "I found him in the woods behind my house; he was caught in bear trap and was lashing out at everything for while. It took me a while to get near him and even longer until he would let me close enough to his leg to examine the trap but I eventually brought him a few raw steaks and got the trap off him while he ate them. After that he was too injured to really go anywhere on his own so I made him a splint in my family's garage and wrapped his leg in the only thing I had which was my red shirt, after that we bonded and now he's rather fond of just having it around his leg even though he doesn't need it." Astrid was so enraptured by his story that she had stopped paying attention to Toothless who chose that moment to put his front paws on her lap and nuzzle her head with his own.

"Why Toothless though? From where I'm sitting he seems to have rather sharp teeth."

"Oh well that comes from when I got him free, he cornered me against a rock and bit at my arm. But he did it gently I didn't feel any of his teeth, and the thought sorta stuck as his name. Besides he seems to like it don't you bud?" The jet black feline let out another loud purr before Hiccup pulled a steak out of a cooler under his desk and tossed it to Toothless who caught it in his mouth and slunk outside to eat it happily. Hiccup smiled at where his friend had just left and then frowned to himself, "Astrid, can I trust you not to tell anyone about Toothless? If anyone found out about him he'd likely be put down living so close to people." Astrid was slightly taken aback by his sudden change in tone, until he asked her he had been happy and more confident than she had seen him since the day Dagur had shown up in dragon training, but she nodded and promised to keep Toothless a secret as long as he didn't mind her visiting him occasionally.

The sound of Toothless roaring interrupted the smiles they were sharing followed quickly by a heavy thud. The teens quickly ran outside to see a large man in an animal control uniform dragging an unconscious Toothless towards a large white van. "Toothless!" Hiccup cried as the man shut the doors and climbed in the driver's side door and drove off without bothering to address the young adults, Hiccup would've tried to run the van down had Astrid not grabbed his arm.

"Hiccup, you'll never catch them like that. Come on we'll take my car and follow them, maybe we can explain that he isn't dangerous."

Hiccup shook his head and hurriedly walked back into the garage, "No we can't Astrid, Toothless is the same black leopard that escaped from the local zoo just over two years ago, he's already considered dangerous and will be euthanized as soon as they get there." He picked up his black jacket and a helmet, putting them on before he grabbed his keys. "The only way for me to help Toothless right now is to stop that van and get him out of there." Astrid gave him an incredulous look.

"Hiccup that's illegal, you're talking about break the law to what? To protect your pet leopard are you serious?" Astrid tried to reason with him, sure Toothless was not what she had first thought and was even friendly and adorable but he wasn't worth going to jail for was he?

Hiccup turned to face her, the same look of determination that he held on the first day of dragon training returned and he looked her dead in the eyes. "Yes." He turned back around and threw a carp off a sleek black motorcycle with red streaks on the sides, it was custom built and looked rather fast, Astrid however was still recovering from the shock of what he was willing to do for the large cat.

"Ok…" She started, "So what do we do?" She looked around and found another helmet and put it on as she joined Hiccup beside the bike, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she offered a small smile, "I can't let you do something this stupid without some back up can I?"

Hiccup gave her a lopsided grin that seemed like his trademark and swung his left leg over motorcycle and clipped his leg into place before offering her his hand, "Well I was planning to forego stupid and head straight for something crazy, but I'll gladly take the help if you're still offering." Years later Astrid would know why, but in the moment she had no idea what drove her to take his hand and swing her leg over and join him on the motorcycle. "Hang on tight." Hiccup said before revving the engine to life and speeding out prompting Astrid to wrap her arms tightly around his midsection.

Despite his lanky build and thing frame, Astrid couldn't help but admire the small barely defined muscle that was present under Hiccup's shirt that she was currently clinging to. She and Ruffnut had discussed whether or not he could drive a vehicle without his left foot, but they hadn't even considered the idea of him riding a motorcycle, so she was understandably surprised when she found herself on the back of one with him and even more surprised that he could drive it so skillfully. They were weaving in and out between cars as they closed the distance the animal control van just as they reached downtown when Hiccup spoke to her again, she had to lean close to hear him through his helmet and over the wind whipping at their faces. "I'm gonna whip around front of him and then you'll need to either melt the engine, or pierce it with that spine shot you were bragging about earlier, ok?" she nodded her understanding as he shifted his left leg and they put on another burst of speed. Astrid was going to have to use a class art, which meant using her hands, so fighting the heat that rose to her face she wrapped her legs around him even tighter than her arms had been and prepared to stop the van without harming the driver.

Just as he said Hiccup sped just past the van and then turned sharply, giving her line of sight to fire. "Tracker class. Deadly Nadder. Magnesium burn!" she called out and her hands fired a bright shower of flame that hit the grill of the van dead center and caused smoke to emanate from beneath the hood. The van slowed and pulled tot the side of the road, and Hiccup followed ahead of it, all the while Astrid was thankful the helmets had visors covering their faces so no one could identify them for their criminal acts. Through the smoke they could hear the van's door open and slam shut and coughing coming from the man who had been driving.

"You damn kids and your animal rights movements; this creature is dangerous and needs to be put down!" He yelled waving his hand in front of his face in a poor attempt to clear the air for him to breathe. Hiccup dismounted his bike and walked over towards the back of the van, ignoring the driver entirely until he reached the doors in the back where Toothless was being held. "Hey, you keep the hell away from there!" The man yelled again but this time back it up with a small controlled DSE blast near Hiccup's feet, "If you try that again I won't bother with a warning shot." Hiccup's head turned towards the man whose spirit burned a lime green around him with a hand poised and ready to fire another blast, even through his helmet Astrid could feel the glare coming from the boy.

"That creature in there is my friend and I'm not about to let you kill him just because he scares you. Try and stop me and I'll be forced to incapacitate you." Hiccup threatened in a cool tone that gave no hint that he wouldn't follow through.

"Fine then kid, you brought this on yourself. Stoker class. Hobblegrunt. Mood fire!" The man released a stream of flames so quickly even Hiccup was caught off guard by how quickly he switched from talking to attacking and it cost him. The flames hit him on his upper right side, burning through his black windbreaker and and shirt, sending him hurtling backwards several feet and his helmet left his head. Astrid quickly shot more of her own flames but the man was ready and met her fire with his own causing them to cancel each other out, he was getting ready to fire again when a soft laughing was heard from Hiccup.

He stood slowly, his upper right chest and shoulder exposed from the fire but otherwise unhurt. "You take grouchy old men to a new level, only other guy I know like that used to work for my old man; a guy called Mildew." Hiccup brushed his shoulder and gravel from the street fell back to the ground, people who had been walking the sidewalks were now standing around and watching the scene unfold while others poked their heads out from the various stores and shops. "But that doesn't really matter right now, what does is my best friend is in the back of your van and I'm not letting you go any further with him." As if to agree with the teen a muffled roar came from the back of the van, indicating Toothless was now awake and unhappy with his current predicament, causing the people on the sidewalk to start muttering to each other. Hiccup either didn't notice or didn't care as his eye never left the man standing between him and his pet. "And since you were so quick to use your dragon class art against me and my friend behind you, I guess you just enjoy a good fight. So I'll up the ante too."

Astrid's eyebrows rose at this statement, did Hiccup intent to use his spirit against the man? The answer came in the form of his spirit igniting around him and his feet parting in a firm stance. The older man's was still burning around him, but in comparison to the pressure coming off Hiccup's it seemed like a pointless endeavor. Hiccup eyes briefly flickered to Astrid before returning to the man, "Strike class…" Astrid's breath froze and she was sure she wasn't the only one, the animal control guy stiffened visibly; strike class spirits were so rare and powerful that just saying them the name caused people tense up, and Hiccup was currently trying to bluff about having one. "… Night Fury…" now Astrid knew he was bluffing, nobody had a Night Fury Spirit, hell even when dragons were flesh and blood creatures only one Viking ever had one, but in the countless centuries not a single person had ever had a Night Fury spirit. Hiccup's hands became engulfed in blue flame as he spoke the third part of performing a dragon class art, "… Plasma blast." He stated calmly and thrust his left hand forward and the ball of purple-blue light flew so quickly that no one had time to register it leaving Hiccup's hand until the man blocking his way took a small explosion and thrown into the side of his van leaving a large dent in it.

Everyone who had been within earshot of stood in frozen silence as Hiccup released Toothless from the van receiving a big cat hug and it ran off towards the woods heading to the place he and Hiccup would normally spend time together. Astrid still didn't believe it, not until a solid black Strike class symbol settled where his right arm met his shoulder for all to see. Hiccup seemed unfazed as he lead her back to the motorcycle, eased her on and drove back to the auto shop, she didn't speak a word until she had returned home and was lying on her bed.

"He has a Night Fury…"


End file.
